special space
Rio and Kate Ferdinand create shrine to late Rebecca Ellison after taking down pictures from family home in sad scenes
RIO and Kate Ferdinand create a shrine to his late wife Rebecca Ellison after taking down her pictures from the family home in heart-wrenching scenes tonight.
The married couple have given an insight into their private life in new documentary, Rio and Kate: Becoming a Stepfamily.
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Rio, 41, lost his first wife Rebecca to cancer in 2015, leaving him to raise their three children alone.
But then he met former Towie star Kate, 28, and the documentary follows their journey of introducing her into the family home and helping the children adjust to the new dynamic while remembering their beloved mum.
However Kate admits to struggling with the amount of pictures and items of Rebecca's still around the house after she first moved in.
She says: "I feel like people don’t see this side of it, do they? All of Rebecca’s clothes are in the cupboard.
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"I can’t explain the feeling. I just feel really guilty to even be in here. I feel bad because… should all this be in here, should I be in the cupboard?"
The couple - who married in Turkey in September last year - also attend a counselling session, where Kate reveals: "Where I didn’t have children before and I’ve inherited three who have their own way of doing things, however their mum used to do it… I’m acting as a mum, but sometimes I forget silly little things.
"I’m in this house that isn’t mine and it’s got Rio and Rebecca’s wedding photos… it was like an out of body experience.
"I’m walking around this house thinking, what am I doing here? My friends are saying ‘does he love you, are you deluded?’"
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Rio adds: "I used to say the kids aren’t ready yet, they’ve had enough going on, if I take them down, what if it breaks one of them?"
Kate admits she understands the predicament her spouse is in, saying: "I don’t want the memory of their mum to go, but I have to be able to live and feel like this is my home as well."
The couple eventually decide to start taking all the pictures down from the different rooms in the house, and Rio gently explained the situation to his son Tate, 11.
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He said: "The pictures have been taken down. Mummy’s obviously in heaven, yeah, but we’re here now. "Me, you, Tia, Lorenz – Kate’s with us as well. So we can’t just have pictures of mummy everywhere as well. In your bedroom there’s pictures of Mummy. You’ve got your pillows.
"If you asked anybody if they were going to go out and be in someone’s else’s family, they wouldn’t want to see pictures of someone who was there before all the time.
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"There are nice places to put them but you have to remember it’s Kate’s home as well."
The couple then decide to put all the pictures of Rebecca into one room where the children can spend time.
Rio explains: "We decided to take the pictures down and create a room for the kids where they can come and be comfortable, they can do their homework, play computer and stuff.
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"This will be a space where they can see pictures of their mum."
Kate adds: "I know it’s really hard for the children and I feel bad it’s because of me that they’re coming down… I’m too scared to change certain things…
"I think if it were all fresh I’d feel more at ease… I feel like everyone else has opinions. There comes to a point where it should be okay."
Rio and Kate: Becoming a Stepfamily airs tonight at 9pm on BBC One.
Rio and Kate Ferdinand followed in emotional documentary 'Becoming a Stepfamily'
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